(A New York Times Notable Book) Picking up where her earlier memoir-with-recipes Tender at the Bone left off, Ruth Reichl recounts her transformation from chef to food writer, a process that led her through restaurants from Bangkok to Paris to Los Angeles in pursuit of good meals and good company. Reichl's anecdotes are priceless, from a summer lunch with M.F.K. Fisher, and a mad dash through the produce market with Wolfgang Puck, to a garlic feast with Alice Waters. She makes each meal a hilarious and instructive occasion for novices and experts alike. This Random House Reader's Circle edition includes eight pages of Reichl's personal photos and a reader's guide.

"So many memoirs annoy by telling either too much or too little. This one tells just enough.... The book reads not like life described but like life lived and then shaped.... Each story affirms [Reichl's] desire to get beyond the surface, even as she celebrates its unlikely depths."—NYTimes